Big Dividends, Low Volatility and a Game of Precision
📍Introduction: When Volatility Sits Still, Dividends Step Up.
May 2025 reminded us of a fundamental truth in income investing: When the market stops swinging, don't chase. Collect. With implied volatility (IV30) decreasing across the board, options premium dried up. But YieldMax sustained.
Despite a quiet VIX and underwhelming movement from key underlying like MSTR and COIN, we recorded a solid $1,387.26 in net passive income. This proves once again that even when the market slows down, your strategy doesn't have to.
🧭 The Market: Volatility Faded, but the Bulls Returned.
The S&P closed May at 5,911.69, climbing an impressive 6.15% month over month, a sharp contrast to April's drawdown. After bottoming near 5,600 on May 6, markets roared back following the CPI report release showing a softer than expected inflation. The rally peaked near 5,970 mid month, and held firm into June, even as volatility continued to fade.
🌬️ IV Trends – The Real Yield Story.
- CONY IV collapsed as COIN stagnated, slashing covered call yields.
- MSTY briefly spiked as BTC approached $110K, but gains retraced by month end.
- YMAX IV30 continued to decay, pushing its option payouts to near zero.
With volatility compressed, dividends became the true alpha. YieldMax ETFs didn’t need big moves. They just needed time and payout cycles.
💼 Portfolio Snapshot (End of May 2025 )
📊 Performance Metrics – Real Yield, Real Results
- Despite a -16.9% unrealized loss, the portfolio is nearly breakeven on adjusted value thanks to strong dividend flow and selective premium capture.
- MSTY is the powerhouse, delivering over $2,400 in total income to date.
- CONY and YMAX, while contributing to the capital drag, have paid for themselves through distributions, reinforcing the portfolio’s income-buffered resilience.
📥 MSTY Accumulation Log – Tactical Scaling in May
During May, I added 300 MSTY shares across four entries, tactically spread over price dips and IV setups. These purchases supported my build toward a 1,000-share foundation while maintaining cost discipline.
💼 Options Tactical Deployment in May
Despite a low-IV environment, opportunistic option selling added meaningful income during May. Timing was critical, and all trades were deployed during short volatility upticks.
Total May Premium Collected: $354.68
Options weren’t frequent, but they were efficient, boosting monthly income by 25% on top of dividends, while maintaining capital flexibility.
💰 May 2025 Income Breakdown
A new monthly high driven by layering of dividends and option trades.
🧠 Lessons from May
- IV drives yield, but not price along. Stocks rallied, but IV didn't follow until IV popped.
- Dividends remain the bedrock. Dividends made up 80% of of income.
- Precision beats overtrading. Fewer trades with better entries resulted in stronger yield efficiencies.
🎯 Strategic Adjustments – June 2025
MSTY (Foundation)
- Accumulate below $22 if IV ≥ 40
- Continue selling CSPs around $21.50–$23 if premiums hold
- Track MSTR strength above $400 for conviction scaling
YMAX (Yield Layer)
- Maintain 100 Share block
- Weekly distributions fuel for reinvestment or short CSP ladder
CONY (Tactical Play)
- Roll or let $15 CC expire (Jun 20)
- Don’t add unless IV > 50
- Monitor COIN headlines for reactive option setups
🔮 June Outlook
📈 What’s Next?
I am still in progress of fleshing out the analytics and I need your input.
- Want dividend heatmaps or income bar charts?
- Interested in tracking rolling 3/6/12-month yield on MSTY/CONY/YMAX?
What would you like to see?
Drop a comment, DM, or email — and let’s compound smarter together.
